Multi-layered security in place ahead of PM’s Red Fort speech

Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on the 400th Parkash Purab of Sikh guru Tegh Bahadur on April 21, a multi-layered security ring, comprising over 1,000 Delhi Police personnel and forces from various agencies, will be put in place at the Red Fort.

Sources said that more than 100 CCTV cameras have already been installed inside the Red Fort premises, including the spot from where the PM Modi will address the nation. Modi will also release a commemorative coin and postage stamp on the occasion.

According to officials, the security ring, including NSG snipers, SWAT commandos, kite catchers, canine units and sharpshooters on high-rise buildings, would be deployed at the Mughal-era fort, and adherence to social distancing norms will be mandatory amid the rising Covid cases in the capital.

“We have made adequate security arrangements. We are working in-coordination with multiple security agencies to ensure all arrangements are in place even from the anti-sabotage view.”The historic monument has been completely secured with multi-layered security arrangements that we usually have during Independence Day. We also need to be extra vigilant because of the tense situation in violence-hit Jahangirpuri,” said a senior police officer.

The footage from the CCTV cameras will be monitored round-the-clock in police control rooms situated in and around the Red Fort area, he said. Officials said agencies have been extra vigilant and have stepped up the security near the historic monument in the wake of clash during a Hanuman Jayanti procession in the city’s Jahangirpuri area on Saturday in which nine policemen and a civilian were injured.

Since then, intensive patrolling is being carried out, Central Armed Police Forces have been already deployed in the sensitive areas of north Delhi — Chandni Mahal, Hauz Qazi and the market areas — as a preventive measure to ensure no untoward incident takes places, officials added.

“Our teams and the special branch unit of the Delhi Police will also have their own teams keeping a strict vigil. The all women SWAT team of the force, like always, will be part of the security arrangements along with deployment of PCR. “‘PRAKHAR’ vans will also be deployed for intensive patrolling in and around the area according to the programme schedule,” the officer said.According to the Union Culture and Tourism Ministry, four hundred ‘ragis’ (Sikh musicians) will perform in a ‘Shabad Kirtan’ to mark the auspicious occasion, the ministry said.